Company with a heart, Trans-cab, has taken the unusual route of slashing daily taxi rental rates.

This comes after cabbies told the company that third-party booking apps Uber and Grab have eaten into their earnings.

Singapore's second-largest taxi company announced the rental cuts on Dec. 28, citing growing competition in the taxi and private vehicle hire market.

The new lowered rental rates will apply to both new and existing drivers who operate alone and will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

The cuts have been substantial.

Depending on the age of the vehicle, rental for a Toyota Wish cab has fallen to S$59.50 (before GST), down from S$90 per day currently. This is down 34 percent.

Renault taxis cost S$88.50 a day, down from the present starting rate of between S$114 and S$125. This is down 27 percent.

The bigger Chevrolet models will fall to between S$66 and S$72, down from between S$94 and S$101. This is down 28 percent.

Trans-cab has about 4,000 taxis plying the roads in Singapore out of fleet of about 4,500 vehicles.

According to Channel News Asia, Trans-cab general manager Jasmine Tan said:

“It has affected their income and overhead cost,” she said. “That's why we decided to reduce the rental to help the one-man operation drivers, to help them lighten their burden."

The Land Transport Authority recently announced it would relax taxi availability standards.

Starting January 2017, cab drivers will no longer have to clock a minimum of 250km mileage daily and meet availability requirements during shoulder peak periods.

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